The present invention relates to an improved computing system, more particularly to both certain individual elements and the combination of a rack designed to receive a bracket, which supports an enclosure case containing some part of the system, for example, a multi-processing unit and peripherals, the case being secured to the bracket and hence the rack by a latching mechanism.
Present designs employ a variety of free standing frames, referred to commonly as racks, to house various components of the computing systems, for example, enclosure cases that contain system boards, disk drives, tape and CD-ROM units, etc. These and other elements of such computer systems contained in cases are employed in certain instances as servers, and while servers are used both in PC and work station environments, for the purpose of describing the present invention and not as a limitation, a work station environment is the intended use.
In the designs referenced to above, the cases containing the elements are mounted in the rack by fasteners, such as bolts and screws, which of course involve the use of tools, manpower and a certain amount of down time when installing, removing and replacing the cases. The fastening in the first instance is usually done by the computer manufacturer prior to shipping the system to the customer-user, in which it is important that the method of fastening maintain the internal cases secure during the usually severe pre-shipment drop and vibration testing and during shipment against vibration and inadvertent dropping. Upon receipt, the user is left with the task of removing the bolts or other fasteners to remove a case from the rack to perform needed upgrading or repairs of components and/or to replace failed components.